Fleming goes on TV to blast commitment ceremony for two women at Fort Polk

WASHINGTON - Rep. John Fleming, R-Minden, went on CNN Friday to continue his criticism of a commitment ceremony performed last month at Folk Polk for two women, one a service member and the other a civilian.

Fleming was booked on CNN after he raised objections to the ceremony at the Louisiana Army base, performed by a base chaplain.

"The liberal social experiment with our military continues," Fleming said in his statement earlier this week. "A same-sex marriage-like ceremony should not have occurred at Fort Polk, especially since the people of Louisiana have made it abundantly clear that our state does not recognize same-sex marriages or civil unions."

"My frustration is compounded by the fact that a social agenda, which has nothing to do with military readiness or our national defense, is being imposed on our men and women in uniform."

On CNN Fleming was asked by anchor Carol Costello why he raised objections, given that "Nobody forced the chaplain to perform the ceremony" and "no one forced troops to come in and participate in the ceremony."

"So, I'm struggling to understand how this affects the military in any way," Costello said.

Fleming responded: "The question is now we have a base commander who had to field questions from the media for a week, which diverted him away from and distracted him and many other members of the service from their important duties to defend this nation."

"That's what is important in their jobs. Not having to deal with this and many other episodes that may come down the pike